Posts Tagged ‘A Milli’

Fun psych rock straight out of Long Beach, CA. Produced by Ikey Owens-keyboardist of the Mars Volta, this song is the 3rd song off their 3rd but self-titled EP- Crystal Antlers. Ikey seemed to be able to harness CA’s balance of rocking grooves and psych tangents in an edible song size, in such way The Mars Volta have rarely been able [surely consciously though] to do. I first started hearing these guys on the local hours on indie 103.1, but seems like the press has spread.The Crystal Antlers seemed to just have blown up all over the place in the past few months. Now Pitchfork can have a love affair with a new Crystal [Castles]. You can very well catch them in a city near you too, while they travel their butts off: http://www.myspace.com/crystalantlers

2. Monotonix – Body Language

I never really heard much of these Israeli rockers until I became re-obsessed with videothing.com and their daily documentation of the Fuck Yeah Fest Tour (including the Crystal Antlers) as they travel around the country in a vintage school bus fed on vegetable oil. These guys seem to rock harder then anybody live (you must go to videothing.com and see Monotonix destroy North Carolina), frequently pouring garbage on each other, throwing the nearest garbage can on the drummer, pouring beer all over band members while performing, and the lead singer’s propensity for spreading his ass cheeks to both the audience and his microphone. Performance aside though, these guys rock-blending 70’s Zeppelin-like fuzz with noise rock and a punk outlook. It’s pronounced HUMMUS.

3. The Mae Shi vs. Miley Cyrus – See U Again

I wrote about these guys recently-but this really deserves it. I dare you to listen to this song, and not listen to it again. I dare you. This song is thoroughly stuck in my head. That’s the contagious factor of a good pop song. These spazz-punk-pop rockers one-upped Miley Cyrus, perfecting her own pop ballad (she didn’t write it right, it was totally some 40 year old ghost writer?). The arpegiating keyboard loop in the background – the perfect amount of auto-tune. The digital unwinding in the middle is the perfect reminder that this actually the Mae Shi. Brilliant. Now if only I could keep a lid on me singing “I’m just being Miley” in public….

Jonathan’s Picks

1. Colby O’Donis – She Didn’t Go, She Did Leave

I promise you this song is not nearly as awkward as its title. In fact, it’s actually quite good thanks to a slightly syrupy, dark, synth-heavy beat contributed by Timbaland. While O’Donis’ debut single “What You Got” certainly grabbed the attention of many in the pop and R&B communities, it also managed to garner the attention of Billboard’s Hot 100 and U.S. Pop charts, peaking at numbers 14 and 15 respectively. “She Didn’t Go, She Did Leave” seems less likely to do so: though the Internets were filled with rumors that the awkwardly titled track would be O’Donis’ follow-up single off his forthcoming album, Colby O, this week the infinitely more pop-friendly “Don’t Turn Back” was released as O’Donis’ newest single, leaving “She Didn’t Go, She Did Leave” to remain merely an Internet and record pool release. Whether or not it will appear on the album is unknown. Now, I have to admit I don’t really like the idea of O’Donis — he looks like a fourth Gotti brother (he is from Queens, after all) and could easily have played a starring role in the YouTube sensation “My New Haircut” — but his non-threatening sound and baby-faced look have helped the 19-year-old land a deal with Akon’s Konvict Muzik imprint, and an impressive first single. Although it may not be released, “She Didn’t Go, She Did Leave” is actually a better song in that it relies less on pop appeal and more on its own unique sound. Oh, and it doesn’t have Akon on it. So that’s always a plus.

2. Fabolous – A Milli Freestyle

So I guess this pick is a little bit unorthodox since it’s really not an official track of any kind. Regardless it’s good, and that’s what matters. Fabolous jacks the beat from Lil Wayne’s second single, “A Milli,” off Weezy’s new album, Tha Carter III, and pretty much just goes to town on it. It’s worth mentioning that right now most people are probably hearin’ and feelin’ Jay-Z’s subtle, yet clearly big boss-like, spin on “A Milli” with his one-upping (actually, make that his one thousand-upping) “A Billi” freestyle. And I’m feelin’ that too in a big way. But getting much less attention is Fabolous’ take on the original track. I’m not really a big Fabolous fan when when it comes to actually rhymin’ — he’s often a little soft in terms of any real lyricism — but I gotta give him his due on this freestyle. So I don’t really know what happened with him, but for some reason he just kinda blacks out on this one. (Maybe he actually did black out?) In any case, it’s as if the “F-A-B-O…” character died and came back to life as a serious rapper with some serious verbal chops. So leave the preconceived notions at the door and give the improved Fabolous a chance. Cuz I’m impressed.

3. Fabolous Feat. Jay-Z and Uncle Murda – Brooklyn

I’ll be honest, I was gonna choose something else new for my third pick, but listening to, and then writing about, that Fabolous freestlye got me thinking about one of my favorite (and somehow largely unappreciated outside of perhaps a single borough of New York City) hip hop tracks from the last few years: Fab’s “Brooklyn” off his highly-anticipated, but follow-though lacking, 2007 album, From Nothin’ To Somethin’. With an intro by NYC’s legendary Funkmaster Flex (whose website is like a visual representation of his voice) and an absolutely FILTHY beat from producer Versatile (wait, who?) that brilliantly incorporates a sample from Biggie’s infamous MSG freestyle, the song just can do no wrong. I’m not saying any of the verses are flat-out slayers, but that’s about as good as you’re gonna get from Fab, and Jay-Z spittin’ about Brooklyn…..well, let’s just say you can’t go wrong with that either. I’d never heard of Uncle Murda until this track, and I’m not exactly overwhelmed by his wits or skillz, but it’s no shock he’d be the weakest of the three. Be sure to catch the outro on “Brooklyn,” where Fab breezily name-checks each Brooklyn neighborhood (Bed Stuy, Bushwick, Fort Green, Red Hook, etc) by rhyming each individually. This song deserves recognition, dammit.